Academics at Irish universities have won €12 million in funding to advance research in areas as diverse as genetics, pain management and wave propulsion.
Trinity College, University College Dublin (UCD), the University of Limerick and University College Cork have together won EU funding for eight projects.
Across Europe, the European Research Council (ERC) has awarded grants totalling €761 million to 478 early-career researchers.
The ERC says the funding will help researchers at the beginning of their careers to launch their own projects, build research teams and pursue their most promising ideas.
Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, said:
“Among the winners in this new round of EU funding are researchers of 51 nationalities. They will be advancing knowledge across a wide range of scientific fields, including cancer, mental health and quantum science.
We see leading scientists coming to Europe with these new grants, and many choosing to remain here thanks to this support. This demonstrates Europe’s potential to attract and keep top scientific talent.”
Four of the eight projects led by Irish universities have been won by University College Dublin.
The UCD awardees will each receive over €1.5 million for their projects, which explore a range of research topics including wave technology, musculoskeletal pain, criminal organisations and the evolution of livestock health.
Dr Mary O’Keeffe is exploring what she calls “new frontiers” in chronic pain management.
Her aim is to look not just at biology, but also psychology and social life when developing treatment.
“Long-term pain doesn’t just hurt, it can take over your whole life – from sleep and movement, to friendships and hobbies”, Dr O’Keeffe says.
“This project is about connecting medical treatment with real-world support, to give people a fairer chance to live well with less pain.”
She’s called it ‘PainSupportLink’.
The aim is to build personalised ways to help people most affected by linking clinical care with community support.
“The research will be co-designed with patients, tested in a clinical trial, and if successful will deliver a scalable model of equitable, people-centred care that could be adapted across health services in Ireland and beyond”, she says.
It’s early days, but it is projects like these that can revolutionise science, according to the European Research Council.
In total, UCD has now secured 39 major ERC grants under the EU’s Horizon Europe Programme which runs from 2021 until 2027.